Looking back at these old Slade videos, what strikes me more than anything is the virtuosic versatility (or versatile virtuosity?) of Jim Lea.  On their previous single, Coz I Luv You, he showed off his skill on the violin; on this one he’s playing pub piano (no virtuosity required) with a cheeky foot-on-the-keyboard homage to Jerry Lee Lewis. For a bonus, his bass playing is just mind-bogglingly great on the B-side, Candidate (below).

 

Jim also co-wrote this number, which failed to match the success of its predecessor, peaking at No.4 in February 1972, with Noddy Holder and drummer Don Powell, who also contributed the heavy breathing on the chorus.

Sadly I cannot find the video they apparently shot at Chessington Zoo, but this performance is pretty great. Chas Chandler’s production was really coming into its own by now, with the Joe Meek-style echoes becoming a signature sound on those foot-stomping beats, with added handclaps and those urgent pants into the microphone.

 

Dave Hill’s brief guitar solo lights up the song just as the repetition of that heavy-handed piano starts to grate, giving the song a new dimension just when it needed one. His unique hairstyle and outfits always offer extra entertainment value too.

 

It was the second Slade single to use the deliberately mis-spelt title and apparently caused consternation among teachers across the land because pupils became confused by the phonetic spellings.

 

I’d take that with a pinch of salt. I was at school at the time and it was just a bit of fun – we all knew that was not actually how you spelt (or even said) Look What You’ve Done.

 

Not even in the Black Country.